Who are those people?

Hundreds of copies out already, if not thousands. People are choosing not to leak it. It's like some godly intervention shit where the myth of lateness and dragging out has to be perpetuated till the bitter end. Even the original leaks were waaay late. 8 years or there abouts went by before a proper version of IRS surfaced. Think about it, the record's been played at strib clubs and band members literally got hundreds of disc with different versions laying around. Friends and family visit, parties are held. The producers, engineers, staff and 31 janitors that has been in a position to make it happen over the years.

Or maybe the album is simply kicking so much ass that nobody wants to remove it from the cd player.:haha:

The fact that fans can't agree on their favorite song speaks volumes to this album. There are perhaps as much as 10 different songs that a fan will think is the best. Even Appetite can't compete in that respect.

This is witness of a great diversity and quality, and ultimately honors the spirit of Guns N' Roses as I see it. Doing something familiar, but always being ahead of everybody else in keeping it interesting and fresh. Yes, it's old and nothing new per se, but it is done in the way that AFD made simple hard rock sound groundbreaking in its time. Guns N' Roses wasn't about pushing music forward, they were about perfecting what was already there, making it their own.

What I hear on CD isn't something old and then thinking "how original..", it's "I know here that's coming from and it works perfectly in what it is trying to achieve." How will the public respond? Who cares, really. In the end I'm happy Axl made a record for fans of music instead of for fans of GN'R (hang alongs, expecting a set reality and image, the masses). In the end he may succeed with what the old band did, having a serious rock record but with enough singles to make the masses say cool, we forgive you and come along.

In the end I believe history will become kinder to Axl Rose, the last real single name rockstar.

People keep saying this, but how could the album we're getting now be released 6 years ago? It didn't exist! Granted there hasn't been done a lot of work since that, but what has been done seems to have been significant. From the intro in CD to the added guitar on TWAT. They greatly enhance the songs.

Anyways, my ranking:

Catcher In The Rye (Great melody, great guitarwork, excellent lyrics)

The Blues (I will refuse to the end of my days to call it anything else) (Fantastic melody and vocals. Incredible outro. The Finck solo, although not bad, is the only thing that leaves something to be desired)

Better (Vintage Axl. Catchy as hell. Several styles blended perfectly. Also contains the best Finck solo on the album)

TWAT (A true epic. One of the greatest GN'R outros ever. Lacks a bit on the last verse before the solos.)

Scraped (Second best rocker on the album. Everything about it is great, catchy and interesting)

IRS (Great rocker. Nothing fancy, just a good flowing tune)

Prostitute (Man, this one took ages to grow on me. Initially I totally hated it, but now I'm starting to appreciate it for what it is. A truly powerful performance by Axl. The way it just fades from the guitar solo works great as an album closer)

Sorry (Very good song, but not the monster some make it out to be. Lacks the expected epic ending and build up)

This I Love (Amazing in many ways, but is brought down by the wanting guitar solo. You keep waiting for that bend that never comes)

Madagascar (I still love this song. One of Buckets best solos, great vocals. Strange to see it fall from grace. Used to be ultimate reference point for fans when they wanted to prove Axl still had it in him. Same has happened to the Blues. People probably got tired of listening to them for 7 years I guess. As opposed to CD they haven't evolved much either)

Shacklers Revenge (Good, not great. Not every song can be A list, nor should they)

Rhiad & The Bedouins (Again good, but not great. Thought it had a lot of potential, but turned out a little different than I had hoped)

If The World (No flaws really, just not all that interesting. Won't be skipping it though)

Chinese Democracy (I think this is a great song all around. Incredible intro, soaring guitars. Up there with Better and Scraped)

Overall there are no bad songs, with only three being a bit 'meh', and that is in my opinion in accordance with every GN'R album. Even AFD have songs I skip) I say Axl has succeeded in his goal to make a true "Guns N' Roses Record".